South Korea's National Red Cross Society urged its...

South Korea's National Red Cross Society urged its Chinese counterpart not to repatriate a group of seven North Koreans who had fled their hunger-stricken communist homeland. Russian border guards deported Ho Young Il, 30, and six other North Koreans to China in late December, two months after they fled their country and arrived in Russia through China. "They crossed the border in search of food," said Chung Won-shik, president of the South Korean Red Cross, in his letter to the Chinese Red Cross. "They say they will face death if sent back to their home country." South Korea had urged Russia to let the North Koreans travel to the South. South Korean human rights groups said that some of the North Koreans that are forcibly repatriated face torture and in some cases, execution. About 450 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since 1994, including 150 this year. Most said they left because of hunger.